The current rally is now the second- longest in history and that equity prices are extraordinarily high with a P/E ratio of 25 or even more according to other calculations. The real economy does not justify Wall Street`s seductive optimism.
BlackRock, the world’s largest fund company, will rely on robots to do its stockpicking. The $5.1 trillion asset manager announced on Tuesday that they will be restructuring the business to offer cheaper quantitative stock funds driven by computer models.
The change impacts about $30 billion in assets under management, including $30 million in annual fee-related dollars, says Jefferies analyst Daniel Fannon. Fannon says that while the scale of the reorganization is surprising, the change makes sense in the context of the firm’s struggle to draw active stock assets. This means that traditional stock-pickers will be replaced, with reports indicating that 40 jobs are on the line in the shake-up, with Blackrock earmarking $25 million in severance and bonuses to those affected.
The economic outlook is bright enough to warrant a pro risk investment stance. Our overweight equities/ underweight duration seems consistent with a firming of global growth and an unwinding of prior deflation fear.
Compass-AM recently announced it obtained from FINMA its license as Securities Dealers. Pietro Ugazzi, one of the founders and customer relationship manager, explains why this is important for the company. […]
The economic outlook is bright enough to warrant a pro risk investment stance. Our overweight equities/ underweight duration seems consistent with a firming of global growth and an unwinding of prior deflation fear.
What could derail the recent rally of risky assets ?
Europe Political Risk: A Le Pen victory in France cannot be ruled out even if odds are slim. It would undermine European political cohesion (weak as it is), and would impose a larger risk premium on euro-denominated assets. A Macron victory would signal diminishing political risk in Europe, as the French and German leadership would be committed to supporting the European Union and the single currency. We underweight French sovereign and financial assets in search for clarity.
R. Esposito, CEO of FinLantern, explains to Finanza Operativa his next initiatives, in particular the new "FinLantern Community".
Since the last Newsletter stock quotations have risen yet further with the DJIA hovering under the 21,000 mark with a P/E ratio of 21.3 while the S&P 500 is still around 2,370 with a P/E ratio of 26.5.The markets are waiting for the FOMC meeting of 15th March 2017 (the Ides of March, an ominous date) while the next rate rise of 25 bps is practically certain
The Boards of Standard Life plc (“Standard Life”) and Aberdeen Asset Management PLC (“Aberdeen”) are pleased to announce that they have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended all-share merger of Standard Life and Aberdeen, to be effected by means of a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement between Aberdeen and the Aberdeen Shareholders under Part 26 of the Companies Act 2006 (the “Merger”). The Combined Group will in due course be branded to incorporate the names of both Standard Life and Aberdeen.
